Athletic Club - FC Barcelona

Athletic Club fell to a 0-1 defeat against FC Barcelona at San Mames on Saturday night. The Lions deserved to get something out of the game but were denied by a great left-footed strike by Lamine Yamal.

The Lions had chances to take the lead and fought hard throughout the night. San Mamés saw a team that had recovered from their Copa setback The players rose to the challenge.

Athletic didn't have the luck they needed to land a killer punch on the league leaders. This was evident after just 30 seconds when Joao Cancelo deflected an Alex Berenguer cross onto the crossbar.

Ernesto Valverde's team suffered an early blow when Unai Gómez went off injured with a knee issue.

Athletic performed well in defence. Barça barely threatened until the half-hour mark, when Unai Simón denied Cancelo.

Selton, Robert Navarro and Iñaki Williams all tested Joan García. And Ferrán Torres had a chance before the break with a backheel that went wide.

Athletic continued to compete very well after the restart, although Marcus Rashford forced Simón into another save.

Hansi Flick was used to bring on all the firepower he had on the bench. The Lions then went close with a move between Alejandro Rego and Navarro saw Oihan Sancet send an effort into Joan García's hands.

San Mamés was furious when Pau Cubarsí brought down Iñaki Williams as the last player, but the referee explained it wasn't a red card offence as the Barça goalkeeper would have reached the ball.

There were more duels that the fans believed were going against them due to the referee's decisions. The San Mames faithful were enraged.

The match was decided in the 58th minute, when Dani Vivian played a superb ball to Sancet, who failed to beat Joan García.

Seven minutes later, Lamine Yamal sealed the victory for Barça with an unstoppable left-footed shot.

Barça took the sting out of the match and our main chance for an equaliser came in injury time with Robert Navarro missing the target.

Despite the defeat, this was a step forward for Athletic in terms of performance and intensity. We'll need to repeat it in Girona. Almost a third of the season remains.